Public Service Announcement: Do Not Use Self-Adhesive Photo Albums For Stamps!

This goes without saying to experienced stamp collectors, but for those beginners out here, it's probably time for a reminder:

Do not EVER put stamps in those magnetic self-stick photo albums!!

Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200.

It seems like a quick and inexpensive way to store and display stamps, and this method is frequently championed by well-intentioned parents and grandparents, but in the long term will ruin any stamps or covers stored that way.

I just got done removing a ton of U.S. postage from one of these albums. The pages had become yellow/brown with the toning spreading onto some of the stamps. The stamps were stuck down fairly tight, but some painstaking care pulled up the majority with gum intact.

Had it been low-denomination postage, I would have just said "**** it!" and thrown the whole thing out, but it was almost all 15-cent and higher denominations, which still have use, so the endeavor was worthwhile. But MAN, was this a pain.

Examples of these sorts of albums:

https://www.amazon.com/Totocan-Adhe...rden&sr=1-53

https://www.amazon.com/Safedealshop...0744&sr=1-17


Just. Don't. Do. It.

I would also advise that you do not store photographs in these either. Over the long term, they will stick and will also be difficult to remove.

There are many alternatives, but the most flexible seem to be pages with slots for 2, 3, 4, and 5 photographs of different sizes (sort of like clear Vario sheets). Most are punched for 3-ring binders and albums for these can be found in many hobby stores.

One of my earliest rookie mistakes when I began collecting was to place my stamps in a photo album. It didn't take long before I noticed the adhesive lines bleeding through some of the stamps. I removed them but the damage had already been done.

Luckily it was a batch of cheap worldwide acquired through an approval dealer from a magazine ad, so I wasn't really pained financially. Though as a kid, that amount probably felt like a lot.

It was a lesson I did not need to learn twice, although if I'd had the benefit of an adult collector in my life the lesson may not have needed to be learned.

Dale

Based on my experience with photos, I shouldn't use this type of album for anything.

Good advise. I hope this helps others avoid issues with their stamps. Thanks for posting!

The old kind that I used for photos and travel mementos back in the '80s, which had thin lines of adhesive that eventually turned brown, were especially horrible.

The idea that glue-covered pages would be "safe" for mounting anything is beyond absurd, but most people are trusting, and if a company says it's a good idea to mount your photos (or stamps) in such an album, they believe it's safe to do so. It's not.
Better would be photo albums with plastic pages you slip your photos into, but for stamps you might just as well buy a stack of Vario pages and put them in a binder.

Only assuming the "plastic" is archival safe.